Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Polling in Context
- 1 Modern Polling
- 2 The Story of Polling in 21/2 Fiascos
- 3 Weighting
- 4 The Wild West of Contemporary Polling
- Part II A Framework for Modern Polling
- Part III Fighting Nonignorable Nonresponse
- Part IV Applications
- References
- Index
3 - Weighting
An Appreciation and Critique
from Part I - Polling in Context
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 February 2024
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Polling in Context
- 1 Modern Polling
- 2 The Story of Polling in 21/2 Fiascos
- 3 Weighting
- 4 The Wild West of Contemporary Polling
- Part II A Framework for Modern Polling
- Part III Fighting Nonignorable Nonresponse
- Part IV Applications
- References
- Index
Summary
This chapter explains weighting in a manner that allows us to appreciate both the power and vulnerability of the technique and, by extension, other techniques that rely on similar assumptions. Once we understand how weighting works, we will better understand when it works. This chapter opens by discussing weighting in general terms. The subsequent sections get more granular. Sections 3.2 and 3.3 cover widely used weighting techniques: cell-weighting and raking. Section 3.4 covers variable selection, a topic that may well be more important than weighting technique. Section 3.5 covers the effect of weighting on precision, a topic that frequently gets lost in polling reporting. This chapter mixes intuitive and somewhat technical descriptions of weighting. The technical details in Sections 3.2 and3.3 can be skimmed by readers focused on the big picture how weighting works.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Polling at a CrossroadsRethinking Modern Survey Research, pp. 47 - 76Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024